Like many thrash metal bands of the 1990s, Sodom took the step of diverging from the type of thrash metal they played in the 1980s and introduced punk elements in their albums Get What You Deserve and Masquerade in Blood with mixed reactions from fans. Code Red marks the official return to Sodom's style of thrash metal that they developed in their first few albums. A stable lineup with Bernemann as axeman and Bobby on drums undoubtedly gave the band confidence to make an album that resembles the sound of machine guns firing on the battlefield which have not being heard since their death metal influenced Tapping the Vein.